An article written by my father, the Rev. C. Thomas Paige, as it appeared in the Tri-State Defender on the date shown.
“And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped him saying,’Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.’” – Matt. 8:2
A few days ago, I was listening to the conversation of two people of high intellectual and moral training, the kind of people of whom you don’t expect certain things. Their conversation was similar to those you hear every day. What was foremost in their minds was who was going to get credit for a certain act.
To me, the entire conversation was very silly and leaning very close to the kind one would expect of a group of juveniles. Two grown people, wondering who was going to get credit for something that needed to be done.
We live, fortunately or unfortunately, in a world where everyone is trying to get credit for something. Never before in history have so many people tried to get their names in the newspapers or mentioned on the radio because they want the whole world to know that they have “laid an egg.”
THE “CROWERS”
In a fable of some years ago, a little hen was running all over the barn yard telling everyone she met that a piece of a star had fallen on her tail. So what? The fact that part of a star had dropped on her tail gave her basis for great egotism. How disillusioned she must have been when she found out the real truth.
The fact that many of us have been able to realize something in life has been the basis for much crowing. The world is not what it is today because of “crowers,” but rather those unnamed or unheralded heroes, people who have gone about their way, unnoticed by the masses.
The chief concern of far too many today is wrapped up in the fact that we want to be seen and heard. My observations lead me to believe that history has been made by the unnumbered hosts who go through life unnamed. The Bible is filled with such people, and for the next few weeks, we are going to try to bring you a survey of those people who have been dynamic in the cause of righteousness.
A LEPER’S FAITH
For our discussion this week, we are going to center our attention on Matt. 8:2, above. What a contrast this was from our attitude of today. Many of us would have gone up to Jesus and said, “Look here, Jesus. I am Mr. Dr. or Mrs. So and So, and I want to be healed. And I want you to remember that name because it is important.”
Here we find a man whose sole ambition in life was to be healed. He represents that great host of people who, through faith, have been able to keep this world in the condition that it is today. To him, like was predicated upon faith. Time was a vital factor.
STATED HIS MISSION
He came to Jesus and immediately told him of his mission: “I came to be healed.”
This leper stands to day as a symbol of all of the faithful. The Bible just says a leper came to Jesus. It could have just as easily stated that John Jones, who was a leper, came to Jesus, but the name was not important. The world has always been the product of those millions of all ages who have put their shoulders to the wheel in hours of adversities and conflicts.
Our homes, our churches, our schools, our communities and all that we have are not the products of those who have made the loudest noises, but rather those old saints of the cross who have gone along hour by hour, day by day, and year by year, making contributions.
DO GOD’S BIDDING
The rising tide of sin in this world of ours demands that our concerns be a matter of promoting that which is high and holy and leaving ourselves out of the picture. This leper who came to Jesus, expressing this simple faith, became a point of inspiration to all of those about him.
Each one of us must rise above our infirmities and let God be seen through them. Whatever our station in life, there is a possibility that we can rise up and make God real in the lives of others. The heroes of the Bible and human history have not been those people who have gone about with horns blasting, but those who, through a simple faith, have done the bidding of God.
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VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local 